The invention relates to an apparatus for skin peeling having a housing which can be held in one hand and having a peeling tool which can be driven, said peeling tool can be moved over the skin of a person substantially parallel to an operating direction during operation of the apparatus and can be driven by drive means.
An apparatus with the design described in the first paragraph is disclosed, for example, in patent document U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,956 A. The known apparatus is a shaving apparatus in which a lower blade cooperating with an upper blade is normally driven to and fro parallel to a linear drive direction. However, it is also possible with this known shaving apparatus to achieve a peeling function instead of the shaving function, i.e. in that a peeling tool is mounted on a base part of the known shaving apparatus instead of the upper blade and the lower blade, it then being possible for the peeling tool to be driven to and fro parallel to the linear drive direction. If the peeling tool is connected to the base part of the shaving apparatus, the known shaving apparatus then in fact forms an apparatus for skin peeling. The peeling tool in this apparatus for skin peeling, and thus the peeling means connected to the peeling tool, can always be driven to and fro parallel to the linear drive direction only. Consequently, the peeling means interacts with the skin of a person practically always by its entire peeling surface during operation of this device, and so a relatively strong resistance is put in the way of the further movement of the peeling tool, and thus of the entire apparatus, along the skin of a person, something which, firstly, is felt to be unpleasant and which, secondly, may also lead to an uneven onward movement of the known apparatus and thus to an uneven skin peeling.
It is an object of the invention to avoid the problems set forth above in relation to a device for skin peeling and to create an improved device for skin peeling.
To achieve the above object in an apparatus for skin peeling in accordance with the invention, inventive features are provided such that an inventive apparatus for skin peeling can be defined as follows:
An apparatus for skin peeling having a housing which can be held in one hand, having a peeling tool which can be driven and which can be moved over the skin of a person parallel to an operating direction during operation of the apparatus, and having drive means for driving the peeling tool, the peeling tool being mounted such that it can pivot about a pivot axis and can be pivoted in a specific pivot angle range.
The result of the provision of the features in accordance with the invention is that the peeling tool, and thus the peeling means connected to the peeling tool, perform at least one slight pivoting movement in a structurally simple way during operation of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, as a result of which the apparatus in accordance with the invention can be moved with less resistance than the known apparatus, i.e. more easily over the skin of a person. Furthermore, it is advantageously achieved with the apparatus in accordance with the invention that the pivoting movement of the peeling tool produces brief impacts on the skin of a person which, on the one hand, intensify the peeling effect and additionally produce a massaging effect, which may be felt to be pleasant by a person using the apparatus in accordance with the invention, as was indeed found in trials that have been carried out.
In an apparatus in accordance with the invention, the pivot axis of the peeling tool may extend parallel to the operating direction. However, it has also proved to be very advantageous when the pivot axis is perpendicular to the operating direction. A particularly good peeling effect, and also a very good massaging effect, are achieved thereby.
It was found to be conducive to obtaining an advantageous structural design if the peeling tool has a substantially plate-shaped peeling means support to which a peeling means is connected, it having proved to be particularly advantageous if the peeling means is designed such that it can be removed from the peeling means support. This renders possible a simple structural design as well as the advantage that the peeling means can be easily and simply removed from the peeling means support in order, for example, to be cleaned or to be replaced by a new peeling means.
It was found to be particularly advantageous in an apparatus in accordance with the invention if in addition the features of claim 5 are provided. Such a solution offers the advantage that the entire peeling head can be easily exchanged. A further advantage of such a solution is that the peeling head may form part of an apparatus which has a base part on which the peeling head can be mounted, but on which it is also possible, however, to mount yet further treatment heads for carrying out personal hygiene and/or body treatments.
The above and further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the embodiment described below and will be explained with reference to this embodiment.